TCU
Denver (Denver Tournament)
Frogs take first at Pioneer Classic
9/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2005
TCU volleyball defeated Denver in five games to finish 3-0 and take first place in the Pioneer Classic hosted by Denver University. Junior Anna Vaughn finished the match with 13 kills and freshman Nirelle Hampton tallied 31 assists, nine digs and three kills. Vaughn and Hampton both earned all-tournament accolades.
With two evenly matched teams, points were not easy to come by either squad. Sophomore Talaya Whitfield saw her first action at the outside hitter position since the Oklahoma match on Aug. 27 and the Long Beach, Calif., product contributed early with three kills. The Frogs also used solid defense from freshman Devon Kirk and sophomore LeMeita Smith who both had solid blocks.
Vaughn began to make her presence felt on offense and pushed TCU to a 30-24 victory in game one. TCU out blocked Denver 6-0 and had four aces, one more than Denver, as part of the winning formula.
The Pioneers rushed out to a 10-3 lead before the Frogs battled within four, 16-12. With more pressure applied by the Pioneers, they went on to take game two.
Smith continued to fly around on defense, getting into five different blocking opportunities. The Frogs went to Vaughn once again when they were in need of crucial points and the Grapevine, Texas, product delivered with three kills and one and a half blocks, as the Frogs took the took a 2-1 lead in the match.
Calli Corley made her first start at libero and posted 11 digs through three games.
Denver rebounded and jumped out to a 20-13 lead in the fourth game before taking the game, 30-22, and pushed TCU to its second five-game match of the day.
Game five excited with the Horned Frogs able to fight off the Pioneers offense and crowd to take the game and the match.
With the win, the Frogs improved to 6-2 on the season. The team will play its next two weekends at home starting with the Molten/Fort Worth Plaza Invitational scheduled for Sept. 16-17.
